Dawn of the Dead : The long walk home
by thatonedude
Summary: Chapter 6, Jake is on a mission to rescue Hope and Rae! Is he going to make it? warning: Strong language!
1. Chapter 1

( Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Dawn of the Dead Franchise. George Romero does.)

Chapter 1

Three Weeks Ago

A coffee cup shattered on the front stoop of a small suburban house near the city of West Haven. It's shards flew in a rain of shattered porcelain onto the sidewalk and the lawn. Beth Wilson, the owner of the cup,(which had once been her favorite, it had a picture of herself on it and made the claim that she was the best girlfriend ever.)was in a state of shock.

She stood on her stoop looking out at her neighborhood and watched something, she couldn't quite understand, play out. In the back of her mind she could hear a voice, small yet persistent, telling her that she needed to get back into her house and lock it. Hell, throw that four hundred pound book shelf in front of the door for good measure. Yet she continued to ignore it and stood there watching this odd incident as it unfolded.

"I-I think I'm going crazy." She mumbled to herself.

Not ten feet away a man was screaming for help as her next door neighbor Kitten Howard thrashed at him and bit pieces of his body off. And, she was eating these pieces of the man! That was the part that really caught Beth off guard and had caused her to stand there stupidly staring at the whole horrible incident.

"I just came to get the paper." She reasoned with herself.

Then almost as if a light switch was flipped on, she suddenly realized what was going on. She turned and ran inside her house slamming the door and locking it behind her. She then raced for the phone to call the police department. She'd ask for Rusty, her boyfriend. She suddenly looked at the phone as if it were some kind of alien entity and put it back in it's cradle. There was no dial tone.

She ran for her cell phone upstairs, her mind racing in a thousand different directions. All the while one thought kept coming back to her. _The riots in New York and Chicago, this has something to do with those damn riots! _She repeatedly thought. Her hands began to sweat as she rummaged around her side of the bedroom for her cell phone.

"Where did I put that damn phone!" She called out frantically.

She grabbed desk drawers out and began throwing them on the floor digging for her phone. Paper, books, pens, and other items were thrown around the floor as she hunted desperately for her cell phone. She suddenly stopped and forced herself to calm down. _Think Beth, Think hard!_ She thought to herself.

Outside, she could hear more screams, these newer screams sounded like they were coming from down the road. There was a loud noise that sounded like a car backfiring, but she knew that that wasn't what it was. Off in the distance she could hear sirens and more screams. She closed her eyes and managed to close these sounds out along with her sight.

"I was sitting at my computer reading an email from my mother when it rang. What did I do with it?" She thought harder on it. "I saw who it was, April's number popped up so I turned off the ring tone and let it vibrate off the desk!" She shouted happily.

She looked under the desk and, sure enough, saw the phone laying there. She grabbed it and flipped it open going to her contacts and picking Rusty's phone number. She put the phone to her ear expecting silence again, but this time she got a ring. She let it ring four times and was about to hang up when he answered his phone.

"Beth! Is everything okay?" He asked in a panicked voice.

"No, I think Kitty just killed someone on our lawn." She said.

"Kitty?! You mean soap actress Kitty? Oh man, then everything that the chief said is really true." He said more to himself.

"What do you mean?" Beth asked him getting only silence for a few seconds.

"Okay baby, listen for a second. We're going to start barricading sections of the city so that the military can come in and sweep the streets. There's something really screwy going on and I just need you to stay inside at all times. Don't go out for anybody okay?" He said.

"Okay Russ." She said.

"Another thing, don't let anybody in if they're bitten. We just got news from Topeka that that's how you get sick. Oh and I'll send someone to check on the neighborhood." He said.

"Baby?" She said.

"What?"

"I'm scared." She continued. She could hear him breathing into the phone, he sounded busy. In the background she could hear other officers yelling and talking in commanding voices. She recognized a few of the voices. She heard her ex boyfriend Drake barking orders and wondered how many police were actually there.

"Me too." Rusty said and hung up.

She set the phone down and got to her feet. A thought suddenly ran through her mind. What if Kitty decided to try and break into her house while she was up here? She shuddered and walked quickly back to the living room She peered out the window and saw that Kitty was now eating more of the man, had in fact tore him open and was eating his insides.

She closed her curtains praying that the police would make their way to her neighborhood soon. Outside she could hear helicopters flying overhead as the carnage continued out on the streets this once lovely and peaceful block. Her cell phone suddenly beeped upstairs causing her to jump. She made it up the stairs and into her room just in time.

"Hello?" She asked quietly.

"Beth, this is Holly from the firm. I'm just calling to let you know that no one is coming in today. Your boss said to tell you that as soon as this thing blows over we'll be back in. Don't worry about pay either, we'll all be getting checks for the hours we have to miss. Anyway, hon' are you okay?"

"I'm..." Beth wondered if she was okay. Considering what she just saw a few seconds ago, she figured she might need therapy after all of this was over. Other then that, she was fine.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just freaked out." She said.

"Tell me about it, the traffic into West Haven is terrible! Hold on, somebody further up the road is fighting with someone else. What on earth! Oh my God! OH MY GOD!" Holly suddenly screamed.

"Holly?! Holly!" Beth screamed into her cell phone.

She listened to Holly for two more minutes before the connection was lost, it sounded like someone was trying to get into Holly's car. Beth clutched the phone tightly in one hand and began to fidget with her hair with the other.

"I'm losing it." She moaned. Then a thought flashed into her mind, brief yet strong enough to make her snap back into reality.

"My sisters and brothers!" She said.

Beth dialed all three numbers and got no answer from any of her siblings. It made her increasingly stressful morning that much more so. As a way to temporarily forget about it, she decided to see if the TV had anything about the sudden oddity that was now beginning to infect this part of the world. She flipped the television on and saw much to her surprise, a live action news report.

"This is Trish Morris reporting live from downtown West Haven. We're here talking to Sgt. Mears about the barricades that are being set up throughout the city. Sir could you please fill us in on why the police are building these barricades?"

Beth saw a man with graying hair look at the screen. He looked cautious, nervous, and even more stressed than she felt. In the background she could see squad cars parked in front of a street as well as several swat vans. Police were running back and forth shouting things to one another. She caught a glimpse of Rusty.

"We are building these barricades to stop the rioters from getting inside the main areas of town. As well as hold them off until the Military arrives. This is a state of emergency and we think that it is very important for all of the viewers to stay inside their homes and keep their windows and doors locked until a police vehicle comes to pick you up." He said.

"You said the Military will be arriving? Does this have anything to do with the recent rioting activity that has spawned throughout the nation?"

"We believe it does have something to do with that at this time. We were also informed that it might be something a little bigger then people just rioting. We were informed by the police department in Topeka Kansas that these people are somehow infected with some kind of virus. They claim that a bite from the rioters will infect others. That is why I urge you to stay in your homes and lock all windows and doors. We are trying our best to send protection to the surrounding areas."

Just then a cop yelled something out, and the reporter ran for cover. The camera continued filming the incident and to Beth's horror she saw hundreds of rioters wandering towards the street her fiancée was trying to barricade.

"Fire!" Sgt. Mears shouted.

The camera began to shake around, due to what Beth figured was the camera man running for his life. She watched as a wave of rioters fell to the ground dead and others, even with bullet wounds, began to trudge forward. The camera man, who was now hiding behind a vehicle, was now filming a graphic scene in which a man with half a face was attacking an officer.

She felt the urge to call Rusty and tell him to get home, but knew he wouldn't answer the phone. A tear rolled down the side of her face as she watched the carnage unfold on the TV. Just as it was getting a bit too violent, a group of decidedly bloody rioters began to walk slowly towards the camera man.

She heard him let out a curse from under his breath, and then Rusty jumped in front of the man. He unloaded his assault rifle into the crowd of people and was then over run by them. The last thing she saw before they cut off the live footage was her fiancée being torn apart by the group of people.

The news cut back to the anchor man who was frantically rummaging for some new papers to read from. He looked like he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She walked up to her TV and with a numb finger, pushed the off button. She then walked back to the couch and sat down, all thoughts of how her family might be were gone from her mind. She sat there like that for more than an hour trying to decide what to do. Her only source of protection was now gone.

"I'm all alone now." she mumbled.

Silence was her only answer. Then someone began to pound on her door. She jumped at the sound and carefully walked over to it, looking out of the peep hole. Kitty stood there covered in blood, she was trying to get in by pounding her head up against the hard oak. The skin on her forehead began to split open as she slammed her head against the door.

Beth Wilson began to scream in terror.

(And that is the beginning of part 2, Next chapter will involve the survivors of the first story and how they got off the side of the mountain.)


	2. Chapter 2

( Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Dawn of the Dead Franchise. George Romero does.)

(Note: This part of the story takes place after the previous DotD fanfic I did.)

Chapter 2

Fishing, Bikers, Execution

"I think I got one!" Hope shouted out to Jake as she began to reel her fishing line in.

"Keeping reeling it in! It looks like it might be a whopper!" Jake called back.

He and Rae Ann stood at the edge of the river each with their own fishing pole, watching Hope reel her line in. Hope concentrated hard as she carefully pulled on the pole. She reeled the fish in and found that it was indeed a whopper. It was a rather large rainbow trout.

"I'm surprised you were able to catch anything with all the debris that's floating around in here." Jake said.

She looked at the river and saw with some sadness that there was a car half way inside as well as the occasional body that floated by. Once, they even saw a zombie float past. She grabbed the fish and put it in a bucket that was by her feet.

"One more and we'll have tonights dinner." She called out to Jake.

"Well your making it kind of tough by scaring everything away!" He called back.

It had taken them three days to get off of the mountain and away from the mass of dead bodies that were still at the base of it. A very close call that trip had been. She shuddered, remembering how one of the stragglers looked towards them as they carefully walked past. It was Jake that took it out, taking the butt of his gun to it's head as quietly as possible.

They managed to wander into the wilderness for a day and that was when they found the highway again. Not two miles away they found a bait and tackle store, it was deserted of course, so they decided to grab anything that might be useful. It turned out that fishing was a safer alternative to hunting with guns. It seemed like the noise attracted unwanted company.

The next morning, Jake went to scout ahead a little ways and found the river. He decided that they should fish for that nights dinner and that was how they ended up in this part of the world fishing.

Hope looked at the river and imagined it as it once was, undisturbed by death and debris. She figured it would have been the ideal place for a picnic. She looked over at Jake who was now concentrating on his line. She studied the rugged beard that clung to his jaw line, and the hair that was beginning to grow out a little on his forehead.

He glanced at her quickly and suddenly began to smile. It was almost nonexistent under the look of concentration but it was there and she was very grateful for it. She smiled back hoping he'd catch it, but he was too busy reeling his catch in.

Rae Ann put her fishing pole down and walked up to Hope smiling. She was dressed in a pair of jeans and a blouse, with a pullover sweater. She looked adorable to Hope. They walked over to Jake hand in hand waiting for him to finish up.

"Mommy, I don't like fish very much." Rae said.

"Well honey, your going to have to eat it for now. We couldn't find any canned goods and we're almost out of the rations we brought with us." Hope said.

Rae looked at her adopted mother for a minute thinking about it and then shrugged. "I guess I don't mind. Do you think Tyson and Elisha are okay?" She suddenly asked.

Hope felt guilt creep into her thoughts, she looked down at the little girl who was finally adapting to this harsher world and then smiled. She squeezed her hand thinking of something reassuring to say. Finally, after a moments thought, She spoke.

"I think they're doing fine. They'll be okay until we get back." Hope said.

"Do you think they'll be mad at us when we get back?" Rae asked.

"No, they might be happy if anything." Hope said.

But her thoughts suddenly turned over to the night they almost got caught. There were hundreds of the living dead at the base of the mountain. Maybe, possibly, thousands. She didn't really think that there were actually thousands but then again she didn't stand there and count them either. One question kept springing to mind. Could they really climb the rugged terrain that they themselves were barely able to climb?

She thought that eventually they would be able to climb it. It made her feel scared. Of all the things she packed with her, she only took one gun and as little ammo for it as possible. It rested on the hood of a small car they managed to find the night before.

"Dinner will be cooking shortly so don't stray too far." Jake said.

He began to gut and remove the scales from the fish. Hope, despite being surrounded by death and carnage, felt a little grossed out by this act and decided to wander down the river until Jake had actually started to cook the fish. She grabbed Rae Ann's hand and began to wander towards an old picnic table that was near a clearing. She sat down with her little girl and together they began to talk about the things they survived through.

"Honey, are you aware of what's been going on lately?" She asked Rae.

She didn't answer Hope at first. She just sat on the bench and looked thoughtfully out into the river. A tree branch had managed to fall into it and it seemed to catch her interest. Finally after carefully examining the branch the little girl spoke.

"Yes." She said.

"Can you tell me what's going on?" Hope asked her, not really wanting to force the little girl into a conversation that she didn't want to have.

"The dead people won't stay dead. We have to hide from them so they won't eat us." She said.

"Yes, that's true. What do you think about us leaving Tyson and Elisha?" She asked.

More silence hung in the air for a while.

"I miss them. Are we going to go back for them?" She asked Hope.

She thought about it for a minute. She knew that that was what she wanted to do, but first she wanted to find out if her father was still alive. If what she heard on the radio only days before was real, then she was almost certain that he was alive.

"Of course, I wouldn't just leave them by themselves forever. We're going to go find my dad first, then if it's safe, we'll go get them. If it's not safe where my dad is we'll just come back to the mountain. Sound good honey?"

Rae Ann smiled and nodded. Then they heard a noise farther down the river. It sounded like there were other people laughing and whooping. Hope suddenly stood up and looked at Rae. The little girl looked back at her with some curiosity.

"What is that?" She asked Hope.

"I don't know, maybe more survivors. Let's go tell Jake." Hope said and got up.

They could hear more noise, this time it sounded mechanical, like motors of some kind. She rushed with Rae back to where they had planned to camp for the night. Jake was standing by a fire frying fish on a pan that they got from a Wal mart yesterday morning. When he saw the looks on their faces he grew alarmed.

"Is everything okay?" He asked them.

"I don't know, we heard something down river. I think it might be more survivors." Hope said.

Jake relaxed and smiled, "Well I guess we might have to do more fishing then." He said.

Just then three men came roaring by on motorcycles. Each had been clad in leather and wore scruffy beards. They parked their bikes next to the car. A tall man with long stringy hair walked up to them. He was smiling but something told Hope not to trust his smile.

The other two got off their bikes as well and began to snicker. They passed off a bottle of Jack to one another. They were both heavy set and had rugged faces, one of them had a scar running down the side of his face. The other seemed to be almost prissy in nature.

"Howdy! Didn't think there were other people in these parts!" The tall man said.

Jake suddenly looked down at his cooking, he carefully flipped the fish meat over and then looked up at the man. Hope saw a look in his eye that said if anything should happen grab the girl and run as fast as you can.

"Hello. Yep, we were just passing through and thought we'd stop and take a break from all the crazy stuff." Jake said.

Hope could see that he was starting to tremble a little. His hand wavered slightly as he grabbed a fork and checked on the food. She would have paid to be a mind reader at that moment because she couldn't quite read Jake's face.

"Well look at what you brought here!" The tall man said examining the gun that was lying on the hood of the car.

"Yeah well, we need protection these days right?" Jake said trying to make light of the conversation.

The tall man busted out laughing in long wheezy gusts and then just as fast as he started, he stopped. His cool gray eyes suddenly looked towards Hope and Rae.

"These your sisters?" The tall man asked.

"No, that's my wife and daughter actually." Jake lied.

"Wife and daughter, holy shit. Your wife looks mighty young, what did she do? Have that kid when she was still a kid?" The tall man said and let out another burst of laughter.

"Hey Hatchet look at this!" The tall man said and pointed at Hope, "This here lady had this kid when she was just a kid!" He said.

Hatchet, the man with the scar, began to let out a heavy gale of laughter. His belly juggled around like Hope envisioned Santa Clause's did when she was little and still believed in such things. The prissy man also laughed at this.

"So is there something I can do for you folks because we were just getting ready to eat." Jake said.

The tall man began to glare at Jake and then he sat down in the dirt next to the fire and warmed his hands. Hatchet looked over into the brush and then towards the prissy man. Hope thought she caught a glimpse of something but it was gone before she got a chance to look at it.

"Well sir, I have a problem. Me and the boys here, well, we were just thinking that you have a mighty fine looking family and I'll be damned if I ain't just a little jealous. We were just thinking that we'd be bad people if we just left this family of yours to the wolves or better yet to those brainless walking corpses. So here's the thing. You're going to let us take them and put them into protective custody for you and when we're done protecting them we might be generous enough to give them back to you. Ain't that right Poncho?"

The prissy man nodded.

Jake sat there thinking this over for a minute, Hope felt sick to her stomach. She knew that something bad was going to happen and suddenly wished she'd brought more people along. Rae clung to her leg tightly and watched with wide eyed curiosity. Jake spoke up looking directly into The tall man's eyes, making sure that he saw him directly.

"Your going to get on your bikes and leave." He said.

"Is that so?" The tall man said.

Jake nodded.

"And tell me why it is that I'm going to do this?"

"Well the way I see it is, I'm as sure as shit dead if I attack you in any way, am I right?" Jake asked. His voice was losing it's shakiness, there was a coolness about it.

The tall man nodded.

"Well then hear this. That guy Hatchet and the other guy Poncho, they'd get me and they'd probably beat me to death. I'm about ninety percent sure of this, but you...You'll be dead before they even get to me." Jake said.

The tall man's look changed from threatening to one of question. He pulled a gun out of his vest and pointed it at Jake.

"You thinking of doing something stupid Bucko?" The tall man asked.

"Hey Angus, man, what are you doing?" Poncho asked.

"You shut the hell up! I'm talking here!" The tall man said.

He had turned his head and in that split second Jake grabbed the frying pan and threw the hot fish all over the man's face. He dove over the fire and buried the knife he used to gut the fish, deep into Angus' stomach.

Angus looked at Jake with wide eyed shock and then let the gun fall out of his hand. He began to scream out curses and fumbled for the gun. Jake took another deep stab into the man's midsection. Blood poured out of it in a rush and to Hope's surprise, she could see his insides falling out.

Poncho began to scream as Hatchet whistled. Five more men came up from the brush and tackled Jake throwing him into the dirt. Hope felt Rae being pulled away from her and turned just in time to see two more men coming towards her. She wanted to run but her legs wouldn't move. They grabbed her and the girl and began to drag them off into the brush.

The five men plus Poncho and Hatchet began to beat on Jake. He felt every punch and kick that was landed and prayed that they kill him quickly. Poncho tried to wrestle the knife from his hand and they began to fight for it when suddenly the blade slipped and sliced off Poncho's thumb. He began to scream and this caused the others to beat on Jake even more.

Just then a shot rang out and they stopped. A lanky young man with long black hair walked up to the crowd of men and looked at them. He had dark brown eyes and a long leather jacket.

"Gentlemen stop!" He said in a deep booming voice.

Jake tried to get a good look at him but his view was mostly obscured by the men that stood all around him. He spit out a molar that had been knocked loose by a kick to the face. All in all he figured that he did pretty good considering the situation.

"Lesley, I can explain! Angus saw the man and his family and-" Hatchet started.

He was promptly backhanded and sent sprawling into the dirt. He looked up at the young man with fear and respect. Lesley looked down at Jake, who was still holding the knife tightly in his hand. Jake looked into his eyes and saw nothing behind those dark brown eyes. He had the look of a psychopath.

"What happened here?" He asked Jake.

"These men started to harass me and my family. I was defending my wife and kid, that's all!" Jake said.

"Les, I'm dying man!" Angus suddenly screamed out.

Lesley turned and looked down at his bleeding comrade and saw that his guts were lying in a pile between his legs. There were blisters all over his face and chest as well. He let out a sigh and took a gun out of his coat and fired two rounds into Anus' head.

"In this area I am the judge. What I see here is a crime. These boys are going to get punished for this, I assure you. Now tell me, how should I punish them?" Lesley asked Jake.

Jake felt his stomach began to knot up. He could see that the man was totally insane, probably was before the whole zombie incident even happened. He got up to his knees and began to speak.

"I don't think that's necessary, just give me my family back and I'll be on my way." Jake said.

Lesley looked at him for a minute and then walked over to Poncho, who was kneeling down holding his hand.

"Poncho, take this gun and shoot yourself." Lesley said.

"But boss, I'm not the one who started this, Angus did!" He blubbered.

"You got yourself hurt and I don't allow weakness in my pack. You'll be a thumb less little bastard that can't pull his own weight around here. I don't allow that at all. Now shoot yourself with that gun!' He said.

Poncho took the gun and held it to his head. He began to shake and cry as he stood there with the gun to his head. Lesley waited in quiet expectation. Poncho suddenly began to moan as he pulled the hammer back. Sweat and tears poured down his face. Suddenly there was a flash as he pulled the trigger and his left eye flew out of his head. He fell in a heap.

"They do what I say because I am the law. Now Hatchet, you take this man and find him a nice little quiet place. You're going to execute him." Lesley said.

Hatchet grunted and then grabbed Jake harshly and began to drag him to his feet. Lesly walked up to him and looked at him for a minute. He grabbed a machete and handed it to Hatchet.

"I want his head with you when you come back Hatchet. Hell, I'll reward you with his woman and kid." Lesley said and began to walk towards the road.

He stopped and looked back. "Motown and Cutter are going to be in this spot waiting for you. You'll follow them back to camp." Lesley said.

Jake watched as the lanky young man named Lesley walked up a small hill. Hatchet began to usher him into the wooded area near the river. They walked forty feet into the woods when Hatchet threw him to the ground.

"Drop that knife of yours or I'll make this slow." He said.

Jake threw his knife down in the dirt next to him. Hatchet had the concentrated look of a man that didn't want to kill another living person. He began to sweat even in the cool autumn air. Jake could see something like remorse in the man's eyes. So he decided to talk to him.

"Hatchet, you don't have to do this man. Just say you killed me or that I got away!" Jake began to plead.

"Kid, Les would gut me for sure if I didn't come back with your head. I'll give you a choice seeing as how I'm a generous guy, Gun or machete?" Hatchet asked.

There was a brief flash of movement behind him but Jake didn't say anything. Hatchet waited for him to answer. Jake finally looked up at him, his eyes were sober looking and worried.

"Gun." Jake said.

A shadow formed behind Hatchet and Jake thanked his lucky stars that it showed up at that moment because any sooner and he would have been dead. Hatchet had time to turn his head as a zombie bit into his shoulder. He screamed in pain as it tore leather, flesh and muscle from his body. He screamed so loud that Jake wondered if the others might have heard it.

He quickly grabbed the gun that Hatchet had dropped and turned it on the zombie. He let out one round killing it and then he took the knife and shoved it into Hatchet's head. Jake grabbed the machete and dashed for some high brush. He hid there and waited for the others to show up.

Just then he heard noise coming from behind him, he turned and saw some more zombies wandering in his direction. He forced himself to stay put telling himself they were still a ways away. Just then he heard Motown and Cutter talking.

"Hatchet?" Motown said from behind some trees.

"Did you kill that fella we worked over yet?" Cutter asked.

Jake waited in silence, his muscles tensing up as they drew closer. Suddenly Cutter let out a curse. Motown began to mutter something about telling Lesley. Jake looked up and realized that Cutter was right in front of him. He stood up as quietly as possible and aimed the gun two inches away from Cutters head.

"Don't make me kill you." Jake said quietly.

A quick glance behind him, told him the zombies were starting to get closer to him. They were roughly two yards away. Cutter raised his hands up but Motown drew his gun.

"You think it's going to be that easy man? We will get you. We'll feed you to those things!" Motown said hatefully.

"Hey watch where your pointing that thing man!" Cutter said to Motown.

"It's not like you don't got a gun pointed at your head already you dumb ass!" Motown said and began to laugh.

"This ain't funny man!" Cutter said.

Jake looked back again and saw the zombies were closing their distance. He had to make a move and quickly. He slammed the butt of the gun down on the back of Cutter's neck sending him sprawling to the ground. Motown took a shot and hit him in the side. He fell backwards and tried to roll out of the way but was in too much pain.

Motown closed the distance between him and Jake and pointed his gun at him. He smiled as he aimed it at Jake.

"Any last words?" Motown asked.

"Yeah, zombies behind you." Jake said.

Motown looked behind himself and saw nothing. Jake fired off three rounds into his midsection and sent him falling back onto his backside. He was still alive but screaming in pain. His gun fell in down a few feet out of his reach.

"Oh God my stomach! It burns man!" He screamed.

"Where are the keys to your bike?" Jake yelled.

"Right here man!" Motown said and threw them on the ground in front of Jake.

He grabbed them and started to run back towards the river. Motown began to scream for him but Jake ignored him. He wanted to get Hope and Rae back before something bad happened to them. He ran for The bikes and tried the key in each of them until he found the one that it fit. He started it and began to ride out of the little campsite he, Hope, and Rae Ann had planned to stay for the night.

The sun was beginning to set as he rode off miles behind Lesly and his pack. He prayed that they wouldn't get hurt while he was on their trail. He prayed that he'd get there on time. Somehow though, he figured his prayers wouldn't be enough.

Cutter, on the other hand, got up clumsily and looked around. Motown was unconscious and bleeding badly. As Cutter began to wander towards the other motorcycles, the two zombies that had been wandering in the woods attacked him. He screamed for help for a few seconds and then one of them ripped his throat out.


	3. Chapter 3

( Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Dawn of the Dead Franchise. George Romero does.)

Chapter 3

18 days ago...

Beth wandered down an empty street looking for something she could defend herself with. The wooden baseball bat she had used earlier broke when she attacked a group of rioters and a garbage can. She knew now that they weren't exactly rioters, more like walking dead people. One of them was missing an arm and another had been dragging his guts behind him.

Three days ago, after she saw her fiancée get killed right on TV, She cried for an hour and then tried to gain her composure. She was almost able to get some of her wits back and then realized that she was indeed alone now and this caused her to cry some more.

She had all but given up on everything, what was the point in living when you were all alone? A voice in her head spoke up though, this voice urged her to live. She couldn't figure out why she suddenly felt the need to live, she just did. So she decided to leave and look for help.

Of course she didn't just walk out the front door and start looking for help. She did a number of things that seemed rational and sane. One of them was call a number of people she knew. She didn't get a single answer to any of the calls. It led her to believe that she was the only one left in her family that was unaffected by what was happening all around the United States.

She then tried to wait for the police that were supposed to send a bus to escort people to a military outpost. That did no good because no one showed up. She waited for the entire day while her neighbor tried to get into the front door. That didn't convince her to go out and look around. What did was the stark realization that she might not get rescued. The cavalry might be long gone, or turned into one of these "rioters" as they were being called on the news.

At midnight, on the first day of the attack, the news channel shut off. It had the message please stand by plastered over the screen. She knew that it was the last time they'd see a news broadcast in this area for a while. She dug in the closet until she found Rusty's old baseball bat. The one he used when he played for his police squad's softball team.

She decided that if she had to use it that she would be able to. She walked upstairs and went to the room that overlooked the front yard. Down below she could make out Kitty still scratching at the front door. Miles out, she could see that most of the electricity in the city had gone out. There were fires on some of the roof tops.

Several helicopters flew over her home as she looked out the window. She felt the urge to scream for them to pick her up but knew it wouldn't do any good. It just convinced her that she needed to get to the outpost on foot. To do that, she would need to leave the house.

She gathered some clothes and put them in a bag and then went out the back door not bothering to lock it. She figured that it wouldn't matter anyway. She walked down several alleyways until she reached a gas station. It still had electricity and she thought she could see people inside it.

This would be her first encounter with the living dead and the baseball bat. She ran full blast into the gas station and got up to the counter before she even realized that something was wrong. What threw her off was the smell. It was terrible, rotten. The counter clerk looked at her with dead eyes that seemed to see past her.

She let out a scream and ran right into another one. This one was dressed in a business suit and looked like Harold Crosby from down the road. She ducked under his reached and ran down an aisle screaming for help. Her adrenaline was pumping and she suddenly knew that she had to use the bat. A woman in a dress wandered out from the back area and started to reach for her.

Beth, who was a woman that has never been in a single fight, swung the bat hard and smashed the woman's head in with just two swings. She then turned and swung the bat out at Harold, breaking one of his arms. Her stomach turned as he wandered towards her mindlessly and without feeling the pain she had inflicted upon him.

"What the fuck is the matter with you people!?" She hollered out at them.

"Raaaaaauuuuggggghhhh!" Harold said.

She swung the bat down hard and it hit it's mark. The bridge of Harold's nose caved in. He still managed to stumble towards her and she hit him on the head. He fell backwards knocking over a magazine rack. His head was leaking blood and brains were oozing out. She stepped over him and walked up to the clerk, he was stumbling around behind the counter. She swung the bat down on his head and watched as he fell behind the counter.

Beth ran outside and went to the back area of the gas station and threw up. It was here that everything that had happened throughout the day, finally hit her. She began to cry as she stood between to garbage dumpsters using one of them to brace herself up. The pain she was feeling was overwhelming and suicide crossed her mind.

"Why did you have to die!?" She wailed into the alley.

She began to hit the garbage can with her bat. At first it was lightly, but as she continued to cry she felt a new emotion developing inside of her. It was something she never expected but welcomed. She began to hit the garbage can as rage filled her.

"They'll pay for this! They took you from me so they'll pay for this!" She screamed out.

That was when the bat broke. It splintered near the handle and the bigger half flew up into the air and landed on the ground near her. She looked down at it as if it were an alien thing and then she looked at the handle still in her hand and began to laugh.

On any given day when the world was normal, that laughter would seem insane. That night it sounded like some alien creature ready to kill if provoked. She managed to stop laughing and ran down the road until she found a church. She tried the door and found that it was unlocked.

She walked inside and sat in the back on an old wooden chair that was next to the collection plate. Outside she could hear the steady crackle of gun fire off in the distance. Once she felt a quake under feet and a loud booming noise filled the air. She decided that she needed to rest for the time being and gather herself up in the morning.

And she did just that, waking up with a better perspective on things. She wasn't ready to leave the church just yet and found that even trying to look through the stain glass windows took effort. By the time she was ready to leave, it was well past midnight again. And so she wandered the streets and found the courage to go into a grocery store to find something to eat.

She wandered the empty streets looking for something to defend herself with. As she turned the corner, a vehicle nearly plowed her over. She jumped back and it missed her by two inches. She breathed a sigh of relief as the driver pulled over and got out. It was a one of her neighbors, Henry Masters. He was driving a military vehicle.

"Oh my God, Beth?" He asked as he looked out at her.

"Henry? Oh thank God. I thought I was the last one left in the neighborhood!" She cried.

Henry ran to her side and began to hug her roughly. He was also weeping from relief at seeing another person from familiar territory. They stayed this way for two minutes and then he motioned for her to get into his car.

"They took out most of the city, I was lucky to grab this vehicle and get out alive. There's food and water in the back as well as some weapons. Not many, just three guns and a few grenades." Henry said as they started to drive off.

"Something big is supposed to happen outside of the city though right?" Beth asked.

"You heard the radio broadcast? Yeah, I think they're setting up some kind of military outpost." Henry said.

"Do you think we should go?" Beth asked.

Henry thought about this for a second carefully turning it over in his mind. Finally after giving it some thought he looked at her.

"What do you think?" He asked.

She shook her head, "Oh no, I asked you first!" She said.

He smiled briefly and then answered her,"I think there might be wounded people there. Bitten, and I don't want to run the risk of getting bitten myself. Or eaten for that matter. I think we should drive the other way. Maybe get a boat and find an island to hide on for a while." Henry said.

"What about other survivors?" She asked him.

"We'll look for other survivors on the way out. If we don't find any then we'll just have to go alone." He said.

"I guess that seems reasonable enough." Beth said.

They got inside the vehicle and drove through the suburbs. They took the route the turned them away from the military outpost. Within an hour they were outside of the city and the suburbs and on the main highway. They drove out into the unknown.


	4. Chapter 4

( Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Dawn of the Dead Franchise. George Romero does.)

Chapter 4

Blood,Cage, Tribe

His vision began to darken as he drew closer and closer to his destination. Jake knew this was because of the considerable amount of blood he lost. He checked the bullet wound once as he was driving down the road and found that it went straight through. A clean shot.

He thanked his lucky stars that there wasn't a bullet lodged in his side or there might have been even more trouble than he was already in. The wind flew through his hair and dried his squinting eyes. It was irritating but not as much as the throbbing that he had in his side. That was almost enough to make him forget the dryness his eyes now suffered.

"Why did this have to happen?" He wondered out loud.

He saw lights in the distance and knew that it was the biker's campsite. He figured he'd be there in maybe ten minutes. He slowed the motorcycle down and then killed the engine. He had to go the next five or so miles on foot otherwise they would know he was coming. He grabbed the pistol and a bandanna that was tied to the handlebars and began to make his way to the camp.

He walked a mile on pure stubbornness before he collapsed and began to pass out. Panic was setting as he realized he was out in the open, exposed to the many things that were now dangerous and wild. Without a moments hesitation he jammed a thumb into his side and let out a scream. He felt more awake then and began to tie the bandanna with a piece of his shirt, around his waist.

He staggered along through the shaggy knee high grass and made his way towards the camp. From this distance he could actually hear music and laughing. He stumbled up to a tool shed that was near a burnt out husk that had once been a farm house. He staggered into the shed and slammed the door making sure to put something in front of it. He didn't do much else because of the blood loss he sustained. The last thing he remembered before passing out was seeing the dying embers of the sun as thin shafts of light crept into the cracked wooden walls of the flimsy shelter he now hid in.

_Hope_

From what she had gathered, Lesley and his gang preferred to be called The Tribe. They claimed that that was what they had become after the epidemic struck. Lesley only allowed the strong to stay in his tribe, he didn't allow anyone that was weak or showed any kind of sympathy towards weakness. He was completely insane.

She and Rae Ann sat inside of a makeshift cage. It was big and was made from an old Van. She and Rae weren't the only two female people inside of it either. There were seven women in there altogether. None of them spoke to each other and all of them had that same scared look in their eyes. The look that said, _What are they going to do to me?_

Hope was staring at a young woman that looked no more than seventeen or maybe even younger. She crawled over to where the woman sat and spoke to her.

"I'm Hope and this is Rae Ann." She said and stuck her hand out.

Surprisingly the girl took her hand and shook it. "I'm Belle." She said.

"Look Belle, I think we need to get out of here before something bad happens, do you agree?" She asked.

Belle nodded, glancing timidly at the others.

None of the other women looked in her direction. None of them except a husky red head that looked to be in her early thirties. She glared at both Hope and Belle. Hope made a mental note about how the woman looked, for some reason she looked different from the rest of the captured women.

"I think we should find a way out of here soon, while everyone is sleeping. For now we should just play scared." Hope said.

"I overheard them talking about using us for their wives. Not just that either..." Belle said looking sadly at Rae Ann.

"Mommy, I have something I can give you." Rae said.

"Not now Rae, we have to figure out how we can escape." Hope said.

"But mom-" Rae started.

Just then the husky woman stood up and approached them. She stopped in front of them and glared at Hope. She said nothing but Hope and Belle could both see with terror why she had looked so different from the other women. She was bitten and was starting to die.

"You conniving little bitches!" She barked out.

"Excuse me?" Hope said politely.

"You heard me! They're going to be good to us and give us a good home and your out to make it like they're a bunch of murderers and rapists! How dare you!" Husky said.

"They are murderers! They killed my whole family just to take me and my fathers guns!" Belle shouted. There were fresh tears standing out in her eyes.

Hope stood up and looked at the woman, there was no mistake looking at the bite wound. She was probably changing right before their eyes. Hope got into a defensive stance and then gestured toward the woman.

"Let's get this over with then." She said.

"Bitch I'm gonna break you in half!" The husky woman screamed.

She charged at Hope inside the cage, and swung her bulk at her like a wrecking ball. Hope, having little room to dodge, had to take the brunt of the attack and was sent slamming into one of the cage walls. She quickly jumped up and swung behind the husky woman putting her in a head lock. She squeezed tightly around the woman's round neck.

"Chogging me to def...tch is chogging me to def..." Husky choked out.

Her tongue was starting to flop out of her mouth as Hope continued to choke her out. Husky could feel her vision start to escape her and she panicked rushing backwards as fast as she could slamming her back into a part of the cage with all of her might.

Hope could feel the air escape from her lungs as the bigger woman slammed her body into the cage. She lost her grip and fell to the floor nearly losing consciousness. Her blurred vision caught Rae Ann in Belle's arms crying at what she was seeing. Hope managed to scramble to her feet and dodge the wild swing that the husky woman threw.

She waited for the next one, saw it coming, and leaned to the left catching it. She pulled on the arm locking it with one of her own and brought the husky woman to her knees. She bent the arm back as far as she could snapping it. The husky woman screamed out in pain and then fell to the floor of the cage in a heap.

"You're bitten! Why didn't you tell anyone!" Hope said.

"It's not a bite, just a scratch from my daughter! She wouldn't wake up for the longest time, but she did wake up! She was mad and she scratched me!" Husky wailed.

"It's a bite!" Hope hollered out.

Just then a tall dark man in a leather duster showed up and opened the entrance to the cage. He walked in and looked at the mess that had happened. He saw the husky woman on the ground with a broken arm, he noticed the bite wound she had as well. He pulled out a gun and shot her in the head twice and dragged her body out. He closed the cage and locked it.

"Hope is everything going to be okay?" Another woman asked. She was older than Hope by a few years, but she acted younger. They all did.

"It will be as soon as we can figure out a way out of here. Does anyone have any idea how we can get out of here?" She asked the group.

"Mommy here!" Rae said and handed her a knife.

"How on earth did you get this?" She asked.

"I hid it when those bad guys started to take us away." She replied.

"This is a good start, a very good start." Hope said.

Her thoughts began to go to Jake, she wondered if he was okay. She knew she had to put her emotions away for the time being. But she still couldn't help but wonder if he actually managed to get out of the predicament he was in.

_Lesley_

He sat in the dark waiting to hear from the voice that always spoke to him. It was silent tonight and that was bad for him. He knew that if the voice didn't speak soon, he would have to act on his own and he was afraid to act on his own. He never made a real decision in his old life. In the one before all of this happened. It wasn't until he witnessed his mother and father being eaten that the voice suddenly spoke to him. It was as clear as day. It told him to get out of there.

He ran that day, ran for hours on end. He collapsed in front of a bar. It was when he woke up in the dark that the voice began to speak to him.

_"Your not Thomas anymore, you'll be taking my name from now on." _It said.

"What is your name?" He asked it timidly.

_"Lesley."_ It whispered.

If he had been thinking hard enough about it, he would have known that he was going insane. That long ago when he was a child he was abused and had hid himself from the pain by creating a persona called Lesley. When he was hiding in his quiet place, Lesley would manifest itself from his mind and take all of the abuse for him. He never knew of Lesley's existence.

Now he waited patiently in the dark for the voice to speak to him, to tell him what to do next. He could feel the panic welling up inside of him. Making him want to scream in frustration at the voice that wouldn't answer him. He wanted badly to hear it.

_"Lesley..." _It suddenly spoke.

He smiled at the sound of it's sexless voice. He listened as it spoke it's next plan to him. He fell asleep as it spoke and it filled his head with the new plan.

_Jake_

Jake woke up a mere two hours after he had passed out. The pain in his side was beginning to worsen and he knew he needed to clean out the wound soon. He went outside and looked around seeing almost nothing in the moonless night. This worried him because it meant he had to be even more careful then before. There might be zombies prowling around and he wouldn't be able to see them until it was too late.

Jake began to walk into the direction of the camp. It was the only place with a dull glow in the darkness. It reminded Jake of a lighthouse signaling boats that land was near. He walked towards the camp carefully and began to plot something.


	5. Chapter 5

( Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Dawn of the Dead Franchise. George Romero does.)

Chapter 5

One week ago . . .

This is the part of Beth Wilson's life where everything goes down hill. Yes, she knew her boyfriend Rusty was dead, had in fact watch the death happen right on the news. Yes, she knew that the world was overrun by things that were once her neighbors and friends and possibly even her family, she had become quite efficient in their disposal. Finally, she knew that Henry was now dead lying in a pool of blood before her very eyes and that this small thing out of the other things seemed way worse, that would be an understatement.

She sat silently underneath a desk inside of an office building a few miles outside of some small town that they had made it to. They stopped because Henry saw a glimmer off in the distance and knew that it was survivors. His words still echoed as plain as day in her head as she stared at his body in wide eyed disbelief.

_"Look at that! See it! It's a shimmer coming off of another vehicle! More survivors Beth! More survivors!" _He exclaimed.

There was a tiny bit of excitement in the pit of her stomach at the thought of other people. She remembered this as she saw the pool of blood slowly forming underneath his body. She saw that one of his eyes was looking slightly to the left and the other was looking almost completely upwards. There was a hole in the side of his head where the skinny man shot him.

It wasn't just the one man either, there were forty or fifty of these people on motorcycles. Behind them was a van that was turned into some kind of cage, it had maybe seven or eight women in it. All of them looked terrified.

_"Beth hide quick! I think there might be something wrong here!" _Henry had said to her as the glimmer turned into a group of motorcycles.

As she hid there, she wondered how he knew that something was wrong. Paranoia was always a possibility. She tried to draw her feet closer to her chest as Henry's blood slowly began to travel in her direction. It did no good, there wasn't nearly enough room under the desk for her to be pushing back. She could hear the men rummaging around in the truck, laughing and whooping around.

Wild men, all of them. There was no law anymore and she didn't realize that because of this people would slowly revert to an almost primitive state. It only now became evident. Henry was proof of this. So was the smell of the gunpowder.

She heard him trying to reason with the skinny man moments before he died. It was a brief conversation that involved the man interrogating him.

_"Who are you with?"_

_"No one. I've been traveling by myself ever since this whole thing happened."_

_"Are you lying to me?"_

_"What?"_

_"You heard me, I asked if you were lying to me. Are you?"_

_"Why would I do that?"_

There was laughter and for a moment she thought it was okay. Then she heard the mechanical sound as a gun was being cocked, then she heard them talk some more.

_"Who are you with?"_

_"I'm alone, why don't you believe me?"_

_"Because there were women's things in your truck. Where is the woman?"_

_"I swear I don't know what your talking about!"_

_"Fine. We'll find her ourselves."_

_"Wait, put that down man what are you do-"_

That was when the gun went off. Henry stumbled back a few steps and then fell to the floor. She knew he was dead, it was obvious, because he was lying there with a hole in his head and his eyes were crooked. She waited quietly, stifling a cry with the back of her hand, until the skinny man left. Now she sat waiting for him to leave.

She listened and what she heard next made her cry out a little.

"Chopper, burn this place to the ground. If anyone is hiding in there they'll have to leave or get burned." The voice said.

"Sure thing Les." Chopper said.

He sounded heavy, his voice gave off that guttural noise that some overweight people have. She heard something liquid being spilled onto the building and could even smell what it was. She gasped at the overpowering smell of gasoline. She wanted desperately to run but didn't dare. Not yet anyway.

There was the sound of a match being struck and then the sound as fire catches onto to something ignitable. It spread quickly all around her. She chose that moment to run. She was half way out of the front door when a large man grabbed hold of her and threw her to the ground. He smiled as she screamed out at him.

"Leave me alone you bastard!" She wailed.

The anger was there, but it was something new this time. As she looked around and saw a group of men standing there she felt it began to rise. The large man, Chopper presumably, was making lewd gestures towards her. He reached down and tried to pry her mouth open.

"Come on baby suck on this, you'll love it." He said as he tried to force his finger in her mouth.

She let it go in and then bit down on it as hard as she could. She was a wild woman at that moment, an amazon from the jungle ready to kill anything that got in her way. He screamed as she clamped tighter and tighter onto his finger. Blood shot out in all directions. She could feel bone and torn flesh grind between her teeth.

Chopper swung a slow but devastating punch with his free hand and caught her on the side of the head. As she fell to her knees she began to lose consciousness. The last thing she did before blanking out, was spit his finger out.


	6. Chapter 6

(Disclaimer: I do not own Dawn of the Dead, George A. Romero does.)

Chapter 6

Jake, Escape, Explosion

To say that it was easy to free the women that were trapped inside of the cage would have been a lie. Seventy men made up The Tribe and each of them were just as ruthless as the next one. They had to be if they wanted to live in safety. The Tribe was getting notorious for the things they did. Raping and murder, the killing of children. It was all because of the man they called Lesley.

He led them and each person thought differently of him, and even though they all knew he was crazy none of them dared to try and overthrow him. Not really out of fear, most of them knew that it would take one bullet to the head to stop him, but more out of not knowing what would happen if they did kill him. After all none of them really seemed like leader material.

The man in the long black duster didn't have a name so everyone took to calling him Slick because of his handsome features and his hair that was always combed back. He did seem like he could lead them if something did happen to Lesley but then again...

Jake knew none of this as he quietly siphoned out the gas from their motorcycles and put it in several containers he found near the farm. He also found something else that would pack a punch if any of them dared come anywhere near him. He stumbled on it in the cellar of the farm house that was almost nothing but a shell of what it used to be.

He stumbled around in the darkness hoping against hope that he wouldn't find any zombies down there and to his luck he didn't. What he did find was a double barrel shotgun and even more surprising was two sticks of TNT. He didn't know how the farmer had gotten them, if there ever really was a farmer, but he did know that they would come in handy. So he took them carefully and sneaked past the lone sentry that was smoking a cigarette reading a porn magazine by candle light.

After he got three gas tanks worth of fuel he took them back and made a trail to pour the gas in. He put a stick of TNT near the motorcycles and then went back to where the sentry was sitting. He walked up behind him and stuck the pistol to the back of his head.

"If you scream or so much as breath I'll put a hole in your head." He whispered.

The man stiffened and held his hands up. Jake led him out into the field and made him get down on his knees with his hands raised above his head. He attempted to look back at Jake and thats when Jake began to pistol whip him.

He beat on the man until he was unconscious and then began to search his body for the crucial ingredient that would make his distraction work. He found it in the man's left hip pocket of his jeans. He grabbed the zippo lighter and went back to the gasoline trail. He tore off another piece of his shirt and stopped once to pray a silent prayer that it wouldn't hurt Hope and Rae Ann.

He lit the shirt.

HOPE

She waited for the right time later in the night and had told the other women to wait for her signal before they ran. She had to wait for the right guard before she could try anything like escape. She felt butterflies in her stomach at the thought of what she was about to do. She didn't know if it would be easy or if it would be hard. She simply thought of it as getting Rae Ann out of this mad place.

The guard happened to be a man named Freezer, he was short and pimply and his skin was always cold, that was how he got his new name. He wasn't the only guard that night, there were fifteen other men that were out patrolling various areas of the camp. He kept walking by and staring at the women longingly and that was how Hope knew he was going to be the target.

She slid the knife underneath her left leg and prayed it wouldn't cut her when she pulled it out. She stared at him with a look she only used a few times on ex boyfriends back before the world was turned into a nightmare. He took a shy glance and then looked back at her. She saw his goofy grin and almost threw up by how disgusting he looked.

"Hey big boy," She started. "How about some company?"

He looked around and saw no one else standing there and then walked up to the cage. He smiled revealing rotten teeth and black gums. She could smell his putrid breath and had to fight off the urge to run to the back of the cage. Rae Ann was hiding her eyes and ears, Hope told her to because of what she knew she had to do.

"Damn your fine. I want to see something baby, could you show me something?" He asked her.

She smiled, an entirely false smile, and lifted her shirt up just to the swell of her breasts. He could see her bra, that was what she wanted. He reached through the cage and tried to grasp her left breast but was just out of reach.

"Too bad. I'm so lonely." She said.

"Oh man, show me some more honey you're really getting me going." He said.

She undid her bra feeling shame as the other women watched and waited silently. She pulled it off and lifted her shirt up higher, her nipples were almost exposed. He grunted and reached in again. She could see his frustration, his lust for her was intense. She knew he was going to crack.

"Dammit, I need to get in there!" He exclaimed.

He fumbled with the keys and almost dropped them but managed to keep them in his shaky hands. He was about to turn the lock when he stopped. He took a step back and looked at her for a minute. He was picking at a big pimple on the tip of his chin.

"Why you so eager to do this with me? I'm ugly as shit. You just tryin' to trick me ain't you." He said.

She felt frustration building up inside of her. Why did he have to pick that moment to grow a brain? she wondered. She put her finger to her lip and began to try and seduce him again.

"I'm lonely and I see that you're lonely, don't you want to make a night of it?" She asked.

She unbuttoned her pants and waited for him to respond. He grabbed the lock and stuck the key in unlocking it. The chain fell to the ground and in two seconds he was on her kissing her neck grabbing her breasts and that was when she took the knife out from underneath her leg and held it to his throat.

"I'll cut your throat before you scream so give me your gun." She said.

"Damn I knew you was playin' me!" He said hatefully.

Belle stood up and grabbed the gun out of his hand. The other women began to march out of the cage in single file and that was when several of the men came walking by and saw what was going on.

JAKE

He lit it and then ran for cover stopping once to make sure there was no one else around. He ducked in a small ditch and waited for the explosion. There was nothing at first but then just as he was about to look up there was a deafening roar.

The ground shook beneath him, his ears were ringing and he was temporarily blinded with spots that danced in front of his eyes from the flash of the explosion. He let out a small yelp and turned just in time to see a zombie shamble it's way towards him. He lifted the pistol to shoot it when he heard a shot ring out and watched as it fell to the ground dead.

He turned and saw a man standing there looking dazed, his right arm was burned almost black and his face was covered in charred flesh. Jake shot him in the chest and then ran towards the campsite.

He ran past small fires here and there and then lit one of the Molotov cocktails he made a few minutes earlier. He threw it near a crowd of dazed men and watched as the fire consumed them suddenly. He looked around for any sign of Hope and Rae Ann and found nothing. He pressed on further, hiding behind a bus. A man walked by in a leather jacket that had a skull on the back. He took the shotgun and hit the man in the back of the head dropping him to the ground.

"Where is Hope!" He yelled.

"The women?" The man said.

He was reaching for his gun. Jake saw this and slammed the butt of the shotgun on his hand. He heard something snap in the man's hand. He began to scream in pain holding up a hand that had a broken index finger on it.

"Okay! They're in the cage but you ain't going to get there on time, Lesley ordered their execution for trying to escape!" He screamed.

Jake took his gun and ran off further into the camp where he could hear and see men running back and forth trying to figure out what happened. He grabbed the other stick of TNT and stuck inside of a tent lighting it's long fuse. He figured he had maybe three minutes tops to find Hope and Rae and get the hell out of there in one piece.

In all of the confusion none of the men even seemed to really notice him sneaking around. None of them except for Slick, he watched him in the shadows ten feet behind him. He trailed him quietly, waiting for him to get closer and closer to the cage.

That was when the gunfire started up and Jake witnessed a massacre right before his eyes. Of the seven women and one girl he saw at least three of them fall to the ground full of holes. He lit another Molotov and threw it. Slick watched as several more men suddenly burst into flames.

Jake drew the pistol and fired off a few rounds into the group of men. He saw Hope backed in the corner of the cage with Rae Ann and two other women. Hope was disheveled and her pants were undone. Her shirt was above her stomach and there was a man lying in the doorway of the cage. He ran inside of the cage and when Hope and Rae Ann saw him they ran to him.

"Jake! Oh my God it's really you!" Hope said as she threw her arms around him.

"Hope, Rae, let's get the hell out of here." He said.

They grabbed each other's hands and ran leaving the cage. One of the women that was still alive had managed to hide underneath the cage and when she saw the others fleeing she decided to take her chances and run. She ran in the opposite direction. Hope saw this and yelled for her but she didn't listen to her. She made it as far as the tent and then it exploded.

Slick watched silently as she flew into the side of a truck half of her head was missing. He continued to follow Jake and the others watching them wondering how on earth Jake managed to pull off such a daring rescue on his own against seventy men. He figured it was because of how disorganized everything was. Lesley led them, sure, but they weren't an army. Just a bunch of wild men that did what they wanted. He got closer the group and waited for the right time to strike.

Hope grabbed a gun off a dead body as they approached the outer campsite. Every so often bullets would fly their way, but The Tribe had bigger fish to fry. The fire was attracting zombies by the dozens and they began to infiltrate the campsite. She looked at Jake and wondered if he would be able to kill people back when things were still okay. She knew he wasn't doing it because he liked it or because he wanted to, he was doing it because he loved her and Rae and he wanted them to be safe. Kill or be killed.

He had an intense look on his face as they made their way out of the campsite. She could see the makeshift bandage on his side; it was collecting blood. Some of it seeped through and was trickling down his side. She wondered what kind of wound it was.

They were almost home free when Lesley and fifteen other men stood in front of their escape route. He stood there with fire gleaming off of his eyes making him look very scary and somehow empty. He raised his gun to shoot when all of a sudden Slick walked up to him and held his gun on him.

"What are you doing?" He asked Slick.

"I guess I don't know yet." He said.

"I do not tolerate mutiny or weakness Slick." Lesley said calmly.

"I don't care, this isn't your world." He replied.

"Why do you care what happens to them?" Lesley asked.

"Because in the old days I used to be a decent man and frankly, I'm tired of your bullshit." Slick said.

"Someone shoot him." Lesley said.

No one moved, they just stood there waiting for something to happen. Lesley still didn't loose his calmness and it was irritating Hope. He seemed so smug at that moment, even if he was insane he was too smug. She looked at one of the last two women that were still alive. It was the one that didn't say anything the whole time they were there. She was holding a gun and trembling. Tears were standing out in her eyes.

"You killed Henry!" She suddenly said.

Jake took note that others were gathering around them making a loose circle. Slick stood there with the gun pressed tightly to Lesley's head. Sweat was starting to stand out on his forehead. The woman began to cry harder now, he could see that something was going to happen and it was going to happen soon.

She raised the gun and fired a round off. No one made a noise as the bullet flew into Lesley's cheek glancing off his cheekbone and going downwards exiting his lower jaw. He fell to the ground in a heap, still alive but unconscious. No one said anything.

Finally Slick spoke and when he spoke up everyone listened.

"They leave, we stay. This kid has got heart coming in here and making us look like fools. Make a path for them and give them a vehicle." He said.

They made a path and watched quietly as the group walked into the darkness.


End file.
